System Requirements

This page outlines the hardware and software requirements for developing and running AstraWeave applications.

Table of Contents

• Minimum Requirements
• Recommended Requirements
• GPU Requirements
• Software Dependencies
• Platform-Specific Notes

Minimum Requirements

These are the bare minimum specifications to run AstraWeave applications:

Hardware

Minimum requirements may result in reduced performance. For optimal experience, see recommended specifications.

Operating System

• Windows: Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1909 or later
• Linux: Any modern distribution with kernel 5.4+ (Ubuntu 20.04, Fedora 33, etc.)
• macOS: macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later

Recommended Requirements

For optimal performance and development experience:

Hardware

Operating System

• Windows: Windows 11 (64-bit)
• Linux: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / Fedora 38 or later
• macOS: macOS 13 (Ventura) or later

More RAM and VRAM allow for larger scenes, more AI companions, and higher-quality assets.

GPU Requirements

AstraWeave is GPU-accelerated and requires modern graphics hardware with compute shader support.

Graphics API Support

Your GPU must support one of the following:

Supported GPUs

NVIDIA

Minimum:

• GTX 1060 (6GB)
• GTX 1070
• GTX 1660 Ti

Recommended:

• RTX 3060 or better
• RTX 4060 or better
• RTX A2000 or better (workstation)

Optimal:

• RTX 4070 Ti or better
• RTX 4080 / 4090
• RTX A4000 or better (workstation)

AMD

Minimum:

• RX 580 (8GB)
• RX 5500 XT (8GB)
• RX 6600

Recommended:

• RX 6700 XT or better
• RX 7600 XT or better

Optimal:

• RX 7800 XT or better
• RX 7900 XTX
• Radeon Pro W6800 or better (workstation)

Intel

Minimum:

• Arc A380

Recommended:

• Arc A750 or better
• Arc A770

Optimal:

• Arc A770 (16GB)

Intel Arc GPUs require the latest drivers for optimal performance. Visit [Intel's driver page](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/726609/intel-arc-graphics-windows-dch-driver.html) for updates.

Integrated Graphics

Integrated GPUs are not recommended but may work for basic development:

• Intel Iris Xe (11th gen or later)
• AMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 5000 series or later)

Integrated graphics will have significant performance limitations. Dedicated GPU strongly recommended.

Verifying GPU Support

Windows

# Check DirectX version
dxdiag

# Check GPU with PowerShell
Get-WmiObject Win32_VideoController | Select-Object Name, DriverVersion

Linux

# Check Vulkan support
vulkaninfo | grep "deviceName"

# Check GPU details
lspci | grep -i vga
nvidia-smi  # For NVIDIA GPUs

macOS

# Check Metal support
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType

Software Dependencies

Development Dependencies

Required

• Rust: Version 1.75.0 or later

  • Install via rustup
  • Verify: rustc --version

• Git: Any recent version

  • Install from git-scm.com
  • Verify: git --version

Platform-Specific

Windows

• Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 or Visual Studio 2022

  • Required for MSVC linker
  • Download: Visual Studio Downloads
  • Select “Desktop development with C++” workload

• Vulkan SDK (optional, for Vulkan backend)

  • Download: LunarG Vulkan SDK

Linux

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install -y \
  build-essential \
  pkg-config \
  libx11-dev \
  libxcursor-dev \
  libxrandr-dev \
  libxi-dev \
  libasound2-dev \
  libudev-dev \
  vulkan-tools \
  libvulkan-dev

Fedora/RHEL:

sudo dnf install -y \
  gcc gcc-c++ \
  pkg-config \
  libX11-devel \
  libXcursor-devel \
  libXrandr-devel \
  libXi-devel \
  alsa-lib-devel \
  systemd-devel \
  vulkan-tools \
  vulkan-loader-devel

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S --needed \
  base-devel \
  libx11 \
  libxcursor \
  libxrandr \
  libxi \
  alsa-lib \
  vulkan-tools \
  vulkan-headers

macOS

• Xcode Command Line Tools

  xcode-select --install
  

• Homebrew (recommended for package management)

  /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
  

GPU Drivers

Always use the latest drivers for optimal performance:

NVIDIA

• Download from NVIDIA Driver Downloads
• Linux: Use distribution’s package manager or NVIDIA’s .run installer
• Minimum driver version: 525.60.11 (Linux) / 528.24 (Windows)

AMD

• Windows: AMD Software Adrenalin Edition
• Linux: Mesa drivers (usually pre-installed)

  # Ubuntu/Debian
  sudo apt install mesa-vulkan-drivers
  
  # Fedora
  sudo dnf install mesa-vulkan-drivers
  

Intel

• Intel Graphics Drivers
• Linux: Mesa drivers (usually pre-installed)

Platform-Specific Notes

Windows

• Windows Defender: May slow initial builds. Add exclusion for project directory:

  Settings > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Exclusion settings
  

• Long Path Support: Enable for deep project structures:

  # Run as Administrator
  New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem" `
    -Name "LongPathsEnabled" -Value 1 -PropertyType DWORD -Force
  

• Power Settings: Use “High Performance” or “Ultimate Performance” power plan for best results

Linux

• GPU Permissions: Ensure user is in the video group:

  sudo usermod -a -G video $USER
  # Log out and back in
  

• Wayland: Some features work better with X11. Switch if experiencing issues:

  # Edit /etc/gdm3/custom.conf (Ubuntu/Debian)
  # Uncomment: WaylandEnable=false
  

• Memory Limits: Increase limits for large projects:

  # Add to ~/.bashrc
  ulimit -n 4096
  

macOS

• Metal Support: Requires macOS 10.15+ and Metal-compatible GPU

  • Check: system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType | grep Metal

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): Fully supported with native ARM builds

  # Verify ARM toolchain
  rustc --version --verbose | grep host
  # Should show: aarch64-apple-darwin
  

• Rosetta 2: Not required for M1/M2/M3 Macs (native ARM support)

• Security Settings: May need to allow apps in System Preferences on first run

Performance Expectations

Development Workloads

Runtime Performance

Example scene: 10 AI companions with full perception and emotion systems

Performance varies based on scene complexity, AI behavior count, and graphics settings.

Checking Your System

Run this command to verify your setup:

# Clone and run the system check example
git clone https://github.com/verdentlabs/astraweave.git
cd astraweave
cargo run --example system_check

The system check will report:

• Rust version
• GPU capabilities
• Graphics API support
• Available memory
• Recommended settings

If all checks pass, your system is ready for AstraWeave development!

Upgrading Your System

If your system doesn’t meet requirements:

Priority Upgrades

1. GPU: Biggest impact on runtime performance
2. RAM: Enables larger scenes and faster compilation
3. SSD: Dramatically reduces build times
4. CPU: Improves compilation speed and AI performance

Budget Recommendations

• Entry Level ($300-500): Used RTX 3060 or RX 6700 XT + 16GB RAM
• Mid Range ($800-1200): RTX 4060 Ti or RX 7700 XT + 32GB RAM + NVMe SSD
• High End ($2000+): RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX + 64GB RAM + Fast CPU

Next Steps

Once your system meets the requirements:

1. Install AstraWeave
2. Build from source
3. Create your first companion

If you have questions about requirements, join our Discord community.